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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: swing · club · march · rash · file · roll · fork · spring

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. swing — to play on
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. fork — in a road
  5. swing — music
  6. roll — a list
  7. march — music
  8. rash — hasty
  9. club — for dancing
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. roll — a cake
  12. spring — a coil
  13. rash — a series
  14. march — the month
  15. swing — in golf
  16. file — a document
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — the season
  20. march — the month
  21. club — a group
  22. club — for golf
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. file — a line of people

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com